“Ascriptive” Citizenship and Being American

In January 2013, Congressman Steve King (R-Iowa) began his legislative work in the 113th Congress by introducing a “Birthright Citizenship Act.” ² As it stands, the 14th Amendment of the U.S. Constitution ensures that a child born in the United States automatically receives U.S. citizenship, regardless of his or her parents' legal status. ³ King's bill would amend section 301 of the Immigration and Nationality Act to limit birthright citizenship to babies who have at least one parent who is a citizen, national or permanent resident of the United States or who is in active service in the U.S. military. Children whose parents live in the United States without authorization or whose parents hold legal, temporary visas, be it for travel, business, work, academic studies or humanitarian reasons, would not be given U.S. citizenship at birth. In King's view, current practice wrongly extends U.S. citizenship “to hundreds of thousands of ‘anchor babies’,” which “creates a magnet for illegal immigration into our country.” ⁴ While King is one of the loudest proponents of more restrictive birthright citizenship, a steady stream of U.S. representatives and senators has echoed his position; bills similar to the 2013 “Birthright Citizenship Act” have been introduced in every Congress since 1993. ⁵